Okay.....so....it's a weird subject I know, but I'm like a reformed smoker or a successful dieter or a reborn Christian and so I have to tell you about it!
I have been seeing lots of sick people lately, at work, via email, in the Malls, all coughing, blowing their noses, clearing their throats and I just want to stop them and tell them what I have discovered. But I can't really do that--I'd get arrested--so I'm going to use this blog to spread the Good Word. NASAL IRRIGATION!!!!
If just anyone had told me to do this, I would have probably laughed and forgotten about it. Oh yeah, squirt a bunch of water up your nose--sounds like fun--he-he. However, since a bonified Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor told me to do this, I gave it a try. I had bad sinus problems, headaches, throat clearing, snoring, blowing my nose all the time, sneezing many times in a row. So I went to the ENT doc and said HELP ME!!! He gave me this sheet of paper with very simple instructions on it and the prescription to do it EVERY day. Here is the recipe:
one baby-sized plastic syringe (you know, the one with the squeezy bulb)
1 cup of warm, not hot, tap water
1/4 teaspoon of table salt
1 pinch of baking soda
Sounds a little kinky when you see the recipe, but folks get your minds out of the gutter--this is for your NOSE.
Put the salt and soda in the cup of warm water and mix it up.
Fill the bulb with the water and squirt the liquid up one of your nostrils. Keep bent over a bit while doing this, otherwise the water will go down your throat--not a bad thing but it could make you gag.
Continue to fill and squirt in one nostril and then the other until the water is gone.
What have you done? You have affectively cleared your nasal passages of germs and foreign objects (like lint and dust) and you have also moistened them. Do this in the shower or bathtub or over the sink every day. I am telling you, people, this will keep you healthy, or get you healthy if you aren't. I have been doing it now for many months and I hardly ever sneeze anymore or have to (sorry) pick things out of my dry nose and I haven't gotten that evil cold yet. Knock on wood.
Give it a try and see if it doesn't help you feel better!
10 comments:
Ouch! Doesn't it hurt?! It makes me think of when I jump into a swimming pool and get water up my nose. Is it something that you have to get used to. Is it, forgive me, an acquired taste?
No, Artmom, it doesn't hurt at all, unless you have inflammation in your sinuses and then maybe it could. There is so little salt you don't know it's there unless you swallow some by mistake. It's soothing, actually.
Hmm. Sounds gross.
I can't believe you wrote this! I'm going to crawl to a quiet corner and weep. I assume you are right ... but 'right' isn't everything. There's also cheese whiz! Repent!
And did you notice I have gotten more comments on this post than on almost any other? Cheese Whiz!!!
This is a good service you are doing here...because this activity actually works.
bs
Brown Shoes, are you doing it? Had you heard of it before? Since my doctor suggested this I have read about it in a couple of magazines.
Ok, Mom, I'm going to try it...because every winter for two years I've gotten small nose bleeds because my passages have been so dry. It must be an over-40 thing 'cause it didn't happen before. I'll report back in a month and let you know if what feels like a perma-sinus infection is gone. By the way, I did get The cold. And I stayed home for a WEEK. nya nya.
I did it. It's gross, but it's not like jumping into a swimming pool. No bleach smell. Not soothing. More like flossing, or exercising. It's a pain in the neck but you gotta do it.
Yeah, it's one of those things that have to become routine. Sometimes I don't do it because I'm in a hurry or just feeling lazy, but later, as I sneeze and snort and cough, I regret it!
Post a Comment